Month: August 2015

This week we were assigned to do an illustration for something called “Loose Juice”.
I did some sketches/scamps and picked my favored ideas from them, then continued working on it in Adobe Illustrator.
This is the first time i have worked with vector graphics and software so it was interesting to learn something about it.
I know my way around Photoshop so i picked up the shortcuts/hotkeys fast and started working fluidly in “AI” after some tinkering around.I also did a search on “Loose Juice” and found this on Urban Dictionary.TOP DEFINITION

“How much loose juice do you have for the party?”
“Past the loose juice”
“Your tern to get the loose juice”
“Man have a thirst for loose juice”
“We’re out of loose juice”
“Where are we going to get loose juice at this hour?”Here are some of the sketches i did, i ended up dropping the whole alkohol side of things but found it amusing none the less.

After some tinering around in illustrator i found some shapes i liked and managed to represent what i wanted.

Here i sketched out some idea developments while applying the SCAMPER method to two different concepts.The first item i applied the principles to, is a tea-spoon. Secondly i tried to redesign Packaging possibilities for rice. Here are some of the results.

Most of the work on this post has been the brain storming using SCAMPER, thinking and rethinking. however the results are visual. Enjoy the sketch!.

What is the essence of SCAMPER ?. It is a brainstorming technique used by creatives and product developers, however it is a technique anyone can apply to almost anything, all in all it is a pneumonic that stands for:

The term SCAMPER was coined by the author Bob Eberle in his book Scamper, it is now out of print, however a follow-up called Scamper on is still available.

You can apply any or all of these seven approaches to change and rethink most any concept you are working on, you can either change it in some way, come up with a whole new idea, or a fresh look on something. It is also useful when you get stuck on something and need a change to move on, or improve the idea and/or concept you are working on.

Lets analyse some of the history of the fast food chain McDonald’s, and see if we can find some examples of the SCAMPER technique being applied.

McDonalds, Tiller, south of Trondheim.

In 1940 McDonald’s Bar-B-Q opens in California, it is a typical drive-in place featuring a large menu and a car hop service.
Eight years later they close the restaurant for three months due to alterations.They then re-open as a self-service,drive-in restaurant.The manu is reduced to nine items: Hamburger, Cheeseburger, soft drinks, milk, coffee,potato chips,and a slice of pie. The staple of the menu being the 15 cent hamburger.

Here they Eliminated most of the menu and Adapted by drastically simplifying the choices of the consumer, making it easier to supply the demand of more customers, doubling the effectiveness of the kitchen by minimising its tasks as well as removing alot of the complicated choices. Meaning they could create a bigger supply for a bigger demand.

In 1949 they Modified the potato chips and switched them out with french fries.
One could also argue the potato was Put to another use here.

In 1955 an architect by the name of Stanley Meston created big yellow arches on the restaurants making it a known symbol for the chain, a symbol that would in 1969 be Modified to the M we all know today and Substitute the company logo known as “speedee” from decorating the restaurants back in 1948 until 1969.

As the years progressed they Adapted using several of the techniques used in the SCAMPER method.

The historical notes about McDonald’s was researched and found on the website http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd.html

A man is replacing a wheel on his car, when he accidentally drops the four nuts used to hold the wheel on the car. They fall into a deep drain, irretrievably lost. A passing girl offers him a solution that enables him to drive home. What is it?Use one nut from each of the other three wheels.

Two Russians walk down a street in Moscow. One Russian is the father of the other Russian’s son. How are they related?They are Married.

What occurs once in June, once in July and twice in August?.The answer is staring right back at you.
June, July and August.

Six drinking glasses stand in a row, with the first three full of water and the next three empty. By handling and moving only one glass at a time, how can you arrange the six glasses so that no full glass stands next to another full glass, and no empty glass stands next to another empty glass? What is the minimum number of moves to solve this puzzle?You can do this in one move – Take the full glass in the middle of the three full glasses and pour it into the middle one of the empty glasses,then return it to its original place.

I started my week with familiarizing myself with wordpress again, i have dabbled alittle with it at an earlier time so it did not take too long to figure out what i needed to get started. I am not really sure about the theme of my blog/journal, so im going to spend some time figuring it out at a later stage, for now this will do.

The hardest part about this week for me has been writing an introduction about myself, i realised i dont really like to write about myself that much (I am still working on the About tab of this journal). However writing about my tasks and creating the lists for the mandatory assignment has been going well enough.

I have also dived into the work schedule and figured out the deadlines and handouts of the next 2 semesters.
Every now and then i checked out the class list and subscribed to all my fellow students blogs when they published their wordpress link.

Moodle Map:

I spent some time getting to know the webstudent platform called Moodle.
We were assigned to create a map of the different sections of the platform.

I started by simply jotting down all the information i could find through out all the different categories.

I then cross checked the information and noted re-occurring places and links within moodle, figuring out all the “intersections”, and points of interest.After that i cleaned up and moved the info around on a new page to get a feel for what would look decent.

I then pondered how to give the map some Flare and a bit more style. My initial thought was of drawing a face in the map connecting all the critical places. I decided against it deeming it to be over elaborant, for the task at hand, and decided to focus more on the whole map aspect of the task.

In the end i turned it into a calligraphy study, i googled some calligraphy alfabets but did not end up using any of the style refferences, as i wanted to give it a more personal look.I also stuck with my regular lead pencil for this one.
If i am going to do this again in some form i would probably use ink and get my hands on some proper caligraphy tools.

Finally i wondered what to put in the bottom left corner to fill things out. I considered something called a “flourish” in caligraphy terms but i did not like the look of it, it did not improve the assignment in any way. After some contemplation i ended up drawing out a small compass insted and thought it fitted the assignment alot better.

Thank you for reading, Feel free to comment and critique, i will appreciate it.
Have a good week.

Hello, my name is Johan, and just now became a student again. To be honest i did not get much sleep last night, It`s about a decade ago since i last dedicated myself to any structured education of any kind. So, needless to say, i might be a tad excited.

I moved to Melhus, Norway last week and i still struggle with the occasional cardboard box, but i am loving my new place. I even have a designated workspace. Melhus is just south of Trondheim where i was born in 1985. I also spend some time at the family farm or rather smallholdings, which is located on the northern tip of a coastal island called Frøya.

As long as i can remember i have been scribbling and drawing. My favorite tool is simply, the led pencil and a good piece of paper. However i enjoy creating the occasional painting as well.

In recent times i have started drawing digitally with a wacom tablet in photoshop, it feels more like painting than drawing really but i wont go into detail about the differences now.

I am also an IT consultant, anything tech and software related is of interest. I have spent six years working in the offshore industry as one, three of which i worked as a software tester in a research and development environment.

Over the years i have had the pleasure of meeting people from over fifty different nations and walks of life, there always seems to be something new to learn from an individual.

Most of my early life i spent abroad travelling and moving around with my family.

Three years of secondary school was spent in Aberdeen, Scotland.I know some day i am going back to visit the highlands and the cliffs of bonnie Scotland.

Graphical Design:

Today i began my first day as a graphical design (web)student. It is along time ago since i decided i wanted to further myself in this direction, I have always wanted to be an illustrator of some sort, and this is the beginning of my (official) journey.

Previously i have attended a one-year boarding school, focusing on art studies as well as a year studying art in upper secondary school, however due to my family moving around alot, i had to switch majors to business administration and general studies.I then attended Næringsakademiet and became an IT Consultant. Now i have decided to commit myself to art and graphical design studies at Noroff and focus on making it, doing something i want for a living.

I look forward to learning about the industry and the inner workings of how being a graphical designer is like.

Keeping a journal:

The main purpose of this blog is keeping a reflected journal on how i work on my assignments.
Imagery and journal entries will contain forethoughts and my process, as well as my reflections on what i currently work on and what i have processed the past week.

It is also a good way for me and others to see my progression, as well as using it for future refference.

Feedback:

Feel free to leave comments and feedback, personal thoughts and even criticism. I will appreciate it,
Other ways of getting in contact and following me will get updated in the [about] tab.